Google affirms that Glass is still being developed, with average consumers as next target

Back in January, Google closed up shop on the Google Glass Explorer Programme, which was created to let early adopters test out the face-based wearable device (at a very high cost). If you thought that meant the end of Glass, Google wants to set the record straight.

Eric Schmidt, the company’s executive chairman, tells The Wall Street Journal that Nest head Tony Fadell, who began overseeing the Glass division as the Explorer Programme ended, is trying “to make [Glass] ready for users.” If you’ve been following the news on Glass in recent months, that shouldn’t be a surprise.

After all, the announcement of the Explore Programme’s demise was cushioned with the news that Glass would become its own department at Google, so the company could take the experimental project to the next level. Google even said, “We’re continuing to build for the future, and you’ll start to see future versions of Glass when they’re ready.”

However, Schmidt thinks the press somehow distorted the message. “It is a big and very fundamental platform for Google,” he said. “We ended the Explorer Programme and the press conflated this into us cancelling the whole project, which isn’t true. Google is about taking risks and there’s nothing about adjusting Glass that suggests we’re ending it.”

He added, “That’s like saying the self-driving car is a disappointment because it’s not driving me around now… these things take time.”

In summation: Glass is still in development, as we knew, and Eric Schmidt is a bit sensitive about how the project is being perceived. Might have something to do with early Glass users being labeled “Glassholes,” but maybe the supposed consumer-ready iteration will be better received.